Owner: James Scatuorchio of Rumson, N.J.
Breeder: Keene Ridge Farm
Trainer: Todd Pletcher (16-2-1-1 Breeders' Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: John Velazquez (47-6-4-4 Breeders' Cup, 5-0-1-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Sophomore captured the first two legs of this year's inaugural Grand Slam on Turf, the Colonial Turf Cup and Virginia Derby over Colonial Downs' expansive grass course. He needed to sweep the Secretariat and Breeders' Cup Turf to earn a $5 million bonus, but fell short in the Secretariat when finishing second.
• Strong runner-up performance in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont earlier this month, battling between horses and narrowly missing to four-year-old Shakespeare.
• Has raced exclusively on grass in his eight career starts, earning more than $1 million and finishing first or second seven times.
• Made his stakes debut winning the 2005 listed Woodlawn Stakes at Pimlico by four lengths on Preakness Day.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Smart Strike, won 6 of 8 starts in an injury-shortened career. His career was topped as a 4-year-old, winning the Grade 1 Iselin Handicap in 1996 over Serena's Song et al.
• Sire, Smart Strike, is a son of Mr. Prospector out of the brilliant Canadian champion broodmare Classy ‘N Smart, who produced champions Dance Smartly.
• As a stallion, Smart Strike best known for producing graded stakes winner Tenpins.
• Dam, Belva, is an unraced daughter of 1987 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Theatrical. She is a full-sister to Pharma and Hap, and a daughter of Committed, champion sprinter in England and a champion miler and two-time champion older mare in France.

Best Case For:

• Many observers will say that English Channel ran the best race of all in the Oct. 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Belmont's leading prep race for the Breeders' Cup Turf. He fought on gamely while battling between rivals Shakespeare and Ace in her first start against older horses. He's had a steady, well-mapped season and doesn't appear to be tailing off one bit.

Biggest Knock Against:

• English Channel hasn't leveled off and accelerated to his maximum capability in his last two starts. That ability to drop the head and explode late is a European hallmark in the Turf, and something English Channel was able to do this against easier rivals this summer. However, he was closer to the pace in the Secretariat and Turf Classic and didn't seem to have that punch. He'll need a slow-paced Turf to be most effective, and then you have to wonder if his final explosion matches up with the top Europeans.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Trainer Todd Pletcher's three all-time starters in Breeders' Cup grass races have combined to defeat only two rivals. Balto Star was last in the 2001 Mile and 2003 Turf, while Pico Teneriffe finished 12^th of 14 in the 2000 Filly & Mare Turf.

Owner: Niarchos Family of Greece
Breeder: Niarchos Family
Trainer: Jonathan Pease (5-2-1-0 Breeders' Cup, 2-1-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Thierry GiIlet (0-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Four-year-old is a five-time Group 1 winner in Europe, including the continent's premier race, the 2004 Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.
• Connections strongly considered running the 2004 Breeders' Cup Classic before opting to rest Bago for his four-year-old campaign and set his sights on the 2005 Turf.
• 2005 season has been up-and-down, winning after a six-month break in the Group 1 Prix Ganay but only capturing the minor awards in races like the Tattersalls Gold Cup and the King George.
• Had his six-for-six perfect record dirtied when third to Sulamani in the 2004 Juddmonte International, his first try against older horses.
• Won all four starts in 2002 in his native France and was Europe's top-rated juvenile.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Nashwan, won 10 of 12 starts, including the 1989 G1 Epsom Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the 2000 Guineas. He's the only horse ever to win those four prestigious English races.
• First foal out of the unraced Nureyev mare Moonlight's Box, who is half-sister to multiple US G3 winner Snake Mountain.
• Grand dam, Coup de Genie, finished fourth in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and went on to be a multiple G1 winner in France.

Best Case For:

• Trainer Jonathan Pease has called Bago “the best horse I have trained,” and that includes Breeders' Cup Mile winner Spinning World and BC Turf champion Tikannen. Both the owners and trainer have had great Breeders' Cup success and his 2004 Arc win came against the likes of eventual Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Ouija Board. Even in defeat this year, he's been extremely competitive with Europe's elite of the elite, and depending on which rivals show up at Belmont, he could hold a major grass class edge.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Bago won only two of his first six tries against older horses and has seen the vast majority of his best races come at distances shorter than the Turf's 12 furlongs. Granted, his '04 Arc win overcame both those facts, but he's yet to display that form in 2005 as we head into October.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• The Niarchos Family (aka Flaxman Holdings) has accounted for four Breeders' Cup Mile wins (Miesque twice, Domedriver, Six Perfections), but has never hit the board in six Turf attempts.

Owner: Bushwood Stables
Breeder: Wimborne Farms
Trainer: Graham Motion (3-1-1-0 Breeders' Cup, 1-1-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Ramon Dominguez (3-1-0-1 Breeders' Cup, 1-1-0-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Now a four-time Grade 1 winner, the reigning Breeders' Cup Turf champion has won three of five starts this year and had excuses in his two losses.
• Exits a determined, rallying win in the Grade 1 Man o' War and also has notched the 2005 Grade 1 United Nations and Grade 3 Fort Marcy.
• Though just 2-for-8 in 2004, he picked a fine time to raise his game – winning the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga and the Breeders' Cup Turf at Lone Star.
• Better Talk Now failed to meet a paltry $10,500 reserve price in his only trip through the sales ring at the 1999 Keeneland November Sale as a weanling. He has earned $2.6 million on the track.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Talkin Man, won 5 of 10 starts for $677,967 and was Canada's Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 1994. At three, he won the G2 Wood Memorial and G3 Gotham in New York.
• Sire, Talkin Man, finished 10^th in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
• Dam, Bendita, won 5 of 19 starts ($89,087) and was minor stakes placed.
• Half-brother to G3 Dogwood runner-up Beat The Play and listed stakes winner B.A. Way (G2-placed earner of $290,756).

Best Case For:

• Been there, done that. The defending champion overcame boggy conditions to win at Lone Star last year against many of these same rivals and his 2005 form looks every bit as good – if not better – than what he took into his first title shot. He can run all day and pairs nicely with super-finishing jockey Ramon Dominguez.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Even his own connections admit he's dependant on a strong early pace to set up his closing kick. Trainer Motion entered “rabbit” Shake The Bank in the United Nations and Man o' War this year and won. In the Arlington Million, where a full field prevented Shake The Bank's presence, Better Talk Now loomed a danger but was not able to outkick his rivals who raced at a more sensible early pace.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Better Talk Now did not make a Grade 1 appearance until the 22^nd start of his career, but has made up for lost time winning four of seven Grade 1 tries since August of 2004.

Owner: Dell Ridge Farm and William Schettine
Breeder: Dell Ridge Farm
Trainer: Bill Mott (41-5-6-4 Breeders' Cup, 12-2-2-1 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders' Cup, 7-0-0-1 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Made quite a splash in his graded stakes debut in early September, winning the Grade 2 Belmont Breeders' Cup in 1:45 for 1-1/8 miles, setting a new course record. Defeated only three rivals, but easily bested Grade 1 winner Meteor Storm by nearly four lengths.
• Returned from a 16-month break to win a second-level allowance at Saratoga in July.
• Sidelined with a potentially career-ending knee injury.
• Debuted at Florida's Gulfstream Park in early 2004 by winning his first two starts by daylight, including a minor listed stakes in his second career outing.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Theatrical, won 7 of 14 starts for $2.8 million, including the 1987 Breeders' Cup Turf at age five when named Eclipse Champion Turf Male. He also finished second in the 1986 Turf to Manila by a neck.
• As a stallion, Theatrical best known for producing the likes of Grade 1 or Group 1 winners Royal Anthem (second in the 1999 Turf) and Geri (second in the 1997 Mile).
• Dam, Lady Shirl, won 18 races in a remarkable career that spanned to age seven, including the Flower Bowl and E.P. Taylor. She earned just under $1 million.
• Dam, Lady Shirl, also produced stakes-placed juvenile sprinter Winning Talk.

Best Case For:

• Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has been absolutely aces this summer-fall on grass with everything he sends out, and Mott twice has won the Breeders' Cup Turf. Considered conservative by most observers' standards, for Mott to bring this colt back from injuries and to the Breeders' Cup with only three starts this year is a huge testament to Shakespeare's immense talents. And, we know he loves the course.

Biggest Knock Against:

• With only five career starts heading in the Turf, he'll be giving a tremendous amount of experience away to his rivals. He did not debut until age four and had a fourth-month break this season already, so how much endurance is underneath him? Shakespeare is racing on “borrowed time” after his connections figured he would be retired following his knee injury. His course record was at nine furlongs, three-eighths of a mile shorter than the Turf trip.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• No Breeders' Turf winner in history has been sired by a former Breeders' Cup Turf winner. However, 1994 Turf champion Tikannen was a son of 1985 Mile winner Cozzene.

Owner: Mrs. John Magnier of London
Breeder: Norelands Bloodstock
Trainer: Aidan O'Brien (30-3-5-4 Breeders' Cup, 4-2-1-1 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Kieren Fallon (10-2-1-2 Breeders' Cup, 3-0-1-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Despite being winless in 2005, he's finished within two lengths of the winner in five major Group 1 races worldwide – including Belmont's Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, Leopardstown's Irish Champion Stakes, York's Juddmonte International and Prince of Wales's and The Curragh's Tattersall's Gold Cup.
• Exits a solid third-place try in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational behind Shakespeare and English Channel, pressing the pace from the two-path under a hustling ride from Patrick Valenzuela.
• Last victory came Aug. 15, 2004 in the Group 3 Desmond Stakes back home in Ireland.

In the Genes:

• Late sire, Danehill (who passed in 2003), has produced such champion turf runners as 2001 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf queen Banks Hill and record-setting European miler Rock Of Gibraltar, an unlucky second in the 2002 BC Mile at Arlington.
• Sire, Danehill, is a son of route influence Danzig, but was one of Europe's top sprinters of 1989, winning the Group 1 Ladbroke Sprint Cup.
• Dam, Tea House, was a minor listed stakes winner in Ireland.
• In addition to Ace, the prodigious broodmare Tea House has produced three stakes winners, Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup winner Danish (runner-up in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl as well), Group 3 Desmond winner Hawkeye (multiple Group 1-placed) and Italian listed stakes winner Teishebaini.

Best Case For:

• He's faced the best of the best – Oratorio, Motivator, Azamour, Bago, Grey Swallow, Rakti et al – and seldom fails to leave a favorable impression. Ace was given an American-style ride from Patrick Valenzuela in his US debut and may benefit from a more relaxed opening mile of the Turf. Despite looking like he would back out of the action in the Turf Classic Invitational, he actually finished admirably on the fence and didn't lose ground to the top pair in the final sixteenth.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Although Ace opened his career with three straight wins, his current losing streak numbers eight and he's clearly no better than third or fourth on the depth chart in his own stable.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Ace's two career stakes wins have come against fields of just three and four rivals, a real rarity in European racing.

Owner: The Aga Khan of Chantilly, France.
Breeder: The Agan Khan
Trainer: John Oxx (1-1-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Mick Kinane (25-3-3-3 Breeders' Cup, 5-2-1-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• $2.4 million earner is one of Europe's premier older horses, a Group 1 winner at ages three and four.
• Did not fire in his most-recent start, a fifth-place run as the favorite in the Sept. 10 Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes.
• Winner of the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes and King George & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes in back-to-back starts this summer. Among those in his wake in the King George was 2004 Arc de Triomphe hero Bago.
• 2004 season highlighted by a victory in the Group 1 St. James's Palace Stakes, avenging his narrow defeat at the favorite in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Night Shift, is a son of the legendary Northern Dancer, but won just one race in an injury-shortened career. He is a half-brother to 1970 Grade 1 Alabama winner Fanfreluche.
• As a stallion, Night Shift has produced the likes of Group 1 Juddmonte International winner In the Groove, French Oaks heroine Daryaba and two-time US Grade 1 winner Listening, heroine of the Hollywood Oaks and Milady Breeders' Cup.
• Dam, Asmara, (Lear Fan), was a 10-furlong listed winner in Ireland and also raced for John Oxx.

Best Case For:

• He's battled Europe's top runners all season and proven to be a world-class performer over a multitude of racecourses. His victory over Bago can't be overestimated in July, and he twice dusted potential Turf starter Ace this summer. Ace came stateside to run a close, better-than-it-looked third in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic against Shakespeare – so that bodes well for how much better this guy stacks up against the top Americans. Trainer John Oxx won his only BC appearance with Ridgewood Pearl in the 1995 Mile, and Kinane has ridden two Turf winners.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Azamour exits a poor performance and was forced to miss the Arc de Triomphe due to a muscle injury in his back, according to trainer John Oxx. He's more of a middle-distance runner in European terms, only once attempting the 1-1/2 miles trip of the Breeders' Cup Turf, albeit a strong win in Group 1 company.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Jockey Mick Kinane missed the mount on Azamour in the Irish Champion Stakes last time out when he was sidelined with a broken wrist. Christophe Soumillon, the Aga Khan's contract rider in France, was called in to pinch hit.

Owner: Michael Charlton
Breeder: Clovelly Farms
Trainer: Luca Cumani (10-1-0-1 Breeders' Cup, 3-0-0-1 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: tbd

Career Highlights:

• Two-time group stakes winner in Europe this year, Alkaased will be making his U.S. debut in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
• Scored the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud in France in June and the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at England's Newmarket Racecourse in May.
• Finished first or second in 12 of 15 career starts, including a 4-for-4 in the money campaign in 2004 that saw him win the listed Glorious Stakes at 12 furlongs at Goodwood.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Kingmambo, won 5 of 13 starts for $733,139, including the Group 1 French 2,000 Guineas, Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and the Group 1 St. James's Palace.
• As a stallion, Kingmambo best known for producing 1999 Belmont Stakes winner and 2000 Champion Older Male Lemon Drop Kid, Japanese Horse of the Year and Japan Cup winner El Condor Pasa and US millionaire grass runners King Cugat and Voodoo Dancer.
• Dam, Chesa Plana (by Nininski) is German Group 1-placed. She is a full-sister to Group 1-winning stayer San Sebastian and half-sister to stakes winner and Group 1 English Oaks runner-up Loushkey.

Best Case For:

• Alkaased squarely handled 2004 Arc de Triomphe winner Bago in their June 26 showdown in France before Bago went on to finish third in his Arc title defense. That victory signaled his class, and Alkaased may be the most pure, 1-1/2 miles horse pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Turf. This is his distance.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Alkaased was forced to miss the Arc de Triomphe with an infected cut, and when he resurfaced Oct. 15 in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket, he ran the worst race of his career when fifth as the second choice in a field of 15 with no visible excuse.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Only two Breeders' Cup Turf winners in history have exited a final prep race finish of fifth-place or worse: Daylami was ninth in the 1999 Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and Miss Alleged was fifth in the 1991 Washington D.C. International at Laurel.

Owner: Tom Baxter of Grand Island, Neb.
Breeder: Tom Baxter
Trainer: Neil Drysdale (31-6-4-2 Breeders' Cup, 3-1-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Corey Nakatani (56-6-7-7 Breeders' Cup, 5-0-1-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Scored his first stakes win and first Grade 1 win in the Oct. 2 Clement Hirsch Handicap at Oak Tree, exacting revenge for three consecutive narrow stakes defeats.
• Placed in the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 Eddie Read and Grade 2 American Handicap prior to his west-coast breakout, losing those three races by five combined lengths.
• Back-to-back allowance wins this summer on the Hollywood Park turf course.
• Won 1 of 6 starts in 2004 as a sophomore, making five of those starts with Bill Mott before being transferred west to Neil Drysdale in December.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Distorted Humor, best known as the sire of 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide, who added the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2004. He also has produced 2005 Travers winner Flower Alley, a leading Classic candidate.
• Sire, Distorted Humor, best known as a middle-distance runner at seven furlongs and one-mile in his career, winning the Grade 2 Commonwealth Breeders' Cup and Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap.
• Dam, Cindazanno (by Alleged), won just 1 of 14 starts (0-for-3 on turf), but she has produced two Grade 1 winners – Fourty Niners Son and his half-sister Cindy's Hero (Del Mar Debutante).

Best Case For:

• Fourty Niners Son is a horse getting better with each and every start, and he's in the hands of a Breeders' Cup-winning trainer in Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale. The Arlington Million perhaps was the toughest US grass race run so far in 2005 and he ran an excellent third despite traffic trouble and being struck by a rival's whip in the stretch.

Biggest Knock Against:

• He's 4-for-7 in California, but only 1-for-6 in his races outside the Golden State. Granted, he's 3-for-3 in the money on turf in those starts away from California. But it remains to be seen how he'll take to the Belmont Park grass course for the first time.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Sire Distorted Humor can become the first stallion to produce a Kentucky Derby winner and a Breeders' Cup Turf winner. His son Funny Cide won the 1993 run for the roses. Note that Caro and Nijinsky II are the only sires in history to produce a Kentucky Derby winner and a Breeders' Cup winner on grass (Caro – Winning Colors/Cozzene in the Mile; Nijinsky II – Ferdinand/Royal Academy in the Mile.

Owner: Stephanie Clark
Breeder: Stephanie Clark
Trainer: Dallas Stewart (5-1-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Turf)
Regular Jockey: Robby Albarado (6-0-0-1 Breeders' Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Turf)

Career Highlights:

• Long-distance specialist has won Churchill Downs' turf marathon, the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap, in thrilling style in 2004 and 2005 – by a combined margin of three-quarters of a length.
• Lightly raced five-year-old has won 8 of 15 career starts, including the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Turf in his most recent effort.
• Showed a national audience his skills when finishing second by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth to defending Breeders' Cup Turf winner Better Talk Now.

In the Genes:

• Sire, With Approval, earned $2.8 million and was Canada's Horse of the Year in 1989 after sweeping the Triple Crown north of the border.
• Sire, With Approval, finished second in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Turf and Arlington Million, and is half-brother to 1997 Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold.
• Dam, Northern Silver (by Silver Ghost), won the Rainbow Miss Stakes for Arkansas-breds and more than $100,000 in her racing career.

Best Case For:

• He's had a well-managed, five-race campaign in 2005 and has run well every start this year except when encountering traffic in the Sword Dancer. Silverfoot has won wire-to-wire when the pace was slow, and rallied from far back when the pace was hot – a versatility that will come in handy in the Turf.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Silverfoot has yet to win in three attempts at the Grade 1 level and is only 1-for-5 lifetime at the 12-furlong trip. He'll need to run the race of his life in the Turf while having some of the top competitors come back to him a bit in order to be competitive.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• The last time the Breeders' Cup was at Belmont (2001), trainer Dallas Stewart pulled the day's biggest upset - $26.60 winner Unbridled Elaine in the Distaff.